Starbucks on a Massive Downhill Slide After Alienating Conservatives

Despite their general aversion to large corporations, progressives and liberals absolutely adore the Starbucks coffee chain, not simply for their array of tasty caffeinated beverages, but also because of their outspoken advocacy of progressive issues.

Starbucks stockholders may think differently, though, as a report from MarketWatch in January revealed the Seattle-based corporate powerhouse had suffered five consecutive quarters of lower-than-expected sales, which has prompted some changes in the way they conduct business.

Though the company offered up a plethora of varying excuses for their declining sales and revenue over the past year or so, The Blacksphere argued that the biggest contributor to the decline of Starbucks was most likely the series of conservative-led boycotts of the liberal brand.

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One such boycott was triggered in November 2015 when then-candidate Donald Trump suggested it in response to Starbucks’ decision to remove the words”Merry Christmas” from their red holiday-themed disposable cups.

That effort quickly proved successful in hurting Starbucks’ bottom line, but then-CEO Howard Schultz seemingly didn’t learn the lesson and persisted in outspokenly supporting various left-wing causes and issues over the course of 2016, culminating in his endorsement of failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. That triggered several smaller but still-effective boycotts that continued to eat away at the corporation’s growth and profit margin.

But the apparent final straw was reached in January. In response to President Trump’s proposed crackdown on immigration from certain predominantly Muslim nations that lacked the resources to properly vet their citizens, Starbucks proudly announced an initiative to hire upwards of 10,000 refugees, a direct slap in the face at those conservative consumers concerned over the potential dangers unvetted refugees posed.

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A YouGov brand index poll in February revealed that the successive boycotts, including the most recent one regarding refugees, had taken a toll on the brand’s perception by the general public, with Starbucks being viewed negatively far more so than positively by a wide margin of Americans.

Such news may have finally grabbed the attention of Starbucks executives, though, as the company announced in April an expanded initiative to hire upwards of 25,000 American military veterans, an obvious olive branch to more conservative-leaning consumers.

It remained to be seen if the newfound outreach to conservative consumers would be enough to save the company’s declining numbers, and it is almost a certainty that if they venture off into leftist politics again, conservative coffee drinkers will once more shift their money to another, less politically divisive caffeinated beverage dispensary.

Please share this on Facebook and Twitter to let everyone know that the series of boycotts against Starbucks may finally have gained their attention by hitting their wallets.